The Feline


The next day, the team was roused up from their beds and ordered to the Hall of Heroes. A fretful red panda pacing about awaited them. "Master Shifu, what's wrong?" Viper asked.

Shifu grunted a concern through his throat. "We have a... worrying development. There have been reports of a strange woman causing discord in the southern part of the village," Master Shifu said.

"The southern part?" Viper asked. "That's the worst part of the village." Po winced and opened a small eye to a tiger with a knowing smirk on her face.

The panda grumbled under his breath. "Not... a word." He turned to Shifu. "Do we know who the person is?"

"No," The red panda sighed. "Sources say that she's a feline of some sort."

"Uhhhh then can I stay out of this mission?" Po asked nervously.

"Why?"

"Because I kinda have a weird history with felines and I don't want things to-"

"What kind of history?" Tigress asked, raising her eyebrow. Every eye turned onto Po.

"Because every time there seems to be a feline in the mission, I end up in a complicated fight that always ends up with me nearly getting killed," Po explained.

"Isn't that true for all of your enemies?"

"Yeah, but felines make it more... confusing. I can't tell if they're attracted to me or not."

A small smirk bore onto the tiger's face while the others snickered. "You're that much of a commodity?"

"Come on, guys. You can't tell me it isn't weird that I'm always fighting a feline that makes things... weird."

"I mean... only when they're female," Monkey muttered.

"Exactly. She's female AND she's feline. Absolutely not," Po firmly said.

"So if the person is a female and feline, they're almost guaranteed to attack you?" Viper asked.

"Or try to flirt with me."

"What about Tigress?"

"She's the exception... kinda."

"Kinda?" Tigress echoed.

"You still try to kill me when we're sparring," Po argued.

"It's called fighting."

"It's called holding back."

"I can't do that."

"No, you don't want to."

"Same thing," Tigress smirked at the panda's sour face.

"That's enough you two," Shifu gently butted in. "We still have the issue of this feline terrorizing the village. She must be stopped. We will start doing patrol the night after tonight. It will give you all time to fully recover from any training fatigue. Po and Tigress, you are the first ones on watch. Try to be more lenient on your training today."

"Yes Master Shifu," Tigress and Po said. Shifu nodded and left for his studies.

"I don't like this," Po muttered under his breath. He tapped his foot against the floor with his arms crossed. "With my history with feline women, I really don't think-"

"Po, you're overreacting," Tigress interrupted.

"Yeah," Crane spoke up. "Besides, you'll be with Tigress so you'll be fine." Po's shoulders relaxed and gave a sigh of relief while the others left, except Crane.

"So this feline is knocking out bandits and thugs?" Po said to the avian warrior. "Are we sure that she's the villain here?"

"What do you mean?" Crane asked. Po shrugged as they ambled their way back to the barracks.

"I mean, she's basically cleaning up crime in the worst parts of the village. Isn't that something we're supposed to do?"

"There's a difference between vigilante justice and what we do, Po," Crane answered. "Besides, the villagers might be uneasy with her."

Po rolled his eyes. "The villagers are uneasy with anyone new in town." The bird's long beak opened to speak only to slowly close back up.

"Well, I can't argue with you there. But even if that's true, vigilante justice is still a problem. It's the thing that makes us different from them."

"How so?"

"You have to be held accountable."

"That's... less than awesome," Po sighed.

"Yeah, but if someone gets hurt, a vigilante doesn't answer for it. Imagine if someone who's like this feline hurt your dad. How would you get justice?"

"Huh, I see your point."

"But forget about that for a moment," Crane said, "We have to make sure this cat doesn't try clawing out some ducks or pigs."

"Hehe Yeah," Po chuckled. "Just... don't let Tigress hear you say that."

"Po, I'm not stupid."

The night came sooner than Po expected. The panda stood in front of Master Shifu with Tigress by his side. They stood on the top of the steps where Master Shifu gave them one final word of caution. "Remember, the feline is supposed to be dangerous. Be on your best guard."

"Yes, Master Shifu," Tigress replied.

"What are we supposed to do when we see her?" Po asked.

"Stop her."

"Okay, how?"

"Po, you're a Kung Fu master and the Dragon Warrior. I'm sure that you'll figure out something."

"That doesn't help, Shifu." Po groaned as the red panda chuckled his way out of sight.

"Come on, Po. We should start going." The Dragon Warrior nodded and followed Tigress into the village. "I'll take the southwest side, you take the southeast."

"Sooooo, you go right, I go left?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you just say that instead?" Po asked.

"Just go," Tigress grumbled. The two separated. Po walked down the familiar but darkened pathway to the southern edge of the village. The moon's light dripped onto the streets, casting long shadows from buildings that used to have friendly features in the morning. Fearsome edges and weird cuts in their shadows crept along the stony street. The bear shook his head.

"Crane was right. I'm worrying over nothing," Po muttered to himself.

He walked further along the street. No whispers except for a few stray bunnies and goats trying to make it home before it got too late. Soon, he approached the bad end of town. The stone road turned into dust and dirt here. Wood replaced stone and brick buildings. Po frowned a bit. This place wasn't always bad. His dad said it used to be a lovely comfy location. A small little huddle of houses and shops where honest workers greeted each other while old men in rocking chairs sat and watched the kids running around in the street. But ever since the Jade Palace was built, newer and better houses were built near it. The southern part slowly became forgotten and thieves began to basically live here.

Po sighed. It's no wonder bandits were often stealing in the nicer parts of town. They had a home here in the southern part.

Master Shifu often complained about his ineffective management of this place. He wanted to fix it, but he couldn't figure out how or what to do. "And this new woman," Po muttered to himself, "Doesn't help things. She seems to be doing a much better job than he is." Of course, Po wasn't entirely sure.

Just then, a loud bang rang out a few yards down the road. Po rushed over to the sight. A place known as the Huai Difang tavern stood where the sound was coming from. It was a woody jagged rectangular place about twice the size of Mr. Ping's shop. Loud crashes and grunts echoed from inside. A group of bunnies and geese huddled outside about five yards from the gated entrance. "What's going on?" Po asked.

"Oh! Dragon Warrior," The bunnies and geese bowed. "She's fighting the bandits inside."

"Who?"

Just then, a muscled ox flew out from the wooden gates and crashed into a vendor's cart outside, breaking it to pieces. Then another. And then another. The three oxen groaned from their injuries. Po could see light scratch marks on their shoulders and arms. One thing came his mind.

"Tigress?"

But then she came out and discarded her ripped, torn cloak. Po's eyes widened as his mouth dropped. It wasn't Tigress. She was a bit shorter than her, coming to Po's eyes. Along her back were small black beads tied into her fur. She wore forearm and calf bands that had seen better days and looked like they were barely hanging on.

Her eyes turned towards Po. They were deep red. Very unusual for tigers, Po thought. Of course, there were other unusual differences. This tiger was... curvaceous. Small supple muscular thighs were covered by black pants that stopped just at her knees with torn ends, though the pants looked ripped in several parts. She wore a white vest with a golden dragon design along the front and back tightly around her slightly ample bosom, ripped and torn in multiple places, most noticeably ripped around her midsection, showing off her abs. Her strong arms weren't bigger than her frame and complement the rest of her body. Her fur seemed rough yet still manageable with a small gleam of sweat. She had tattoos on her arms; each a raging tiger cascading to her elbows.

She held a fan, cooling herself with it. There was no sword or other weapon that she had, so she must have taken the oxen down with her bare hands.

Either that or that was a strong fan.

Po gawked in both awe and fear.

But mostly awe. "Wooooowww! That was awesome! And scary! I don't know if it's scarier than awesome. Pretty awesome, though," The panda said in his own little world. "I have to talk with her."

"You already are."

"Daah!" Po jumped back. The tiger stood right in front of him. The ducks and bunnies had scattered away while Po was too distracted to sense the danger in front of him. Her piercing red eyes reminded him of Tigress's amber eyes. But these eyes dripped like vengeful warriors out for blood. Or pleasure. Po gulped. "H-H-How did you hear me?"

"I can hear you from a mile away. Not the stealth type," The tiger said.

"Hehe, well, you know."

"Who are you?"

"I uhhh, I'm Po."

"You don't seem sure, cutie," the tiger smirked.

"Uhhh I uhhhh." Po stuttered. "Uhh who are you?"

"Hmmm, I don't know if I should tell you."

"What? Why? I... wait wait wait, it doesn't matter who you are," Po shook his head in a desperate attempt to get back to reality. "You can't just kick down some innocent oxen."

Just then the bar owner came out. "Thank you lady for getting those ruffians out of my bar."

"Oh," Po muttered.

"You were saying?" The tiger's smirk grew wider and wider, bearing her full sharp teeth in her smile.

Po shook his head. "Doesn't mean you need to make a mess."

"Hmph," the tiger crossed her arms. "You sound like a loser."

"Hey!"

"I mean that in a kind way... a little. You sound like you lose a lot."

"In what?"

"In life?"

"Well, I... don't... not... really."

"What do you want with me, panda?" said the tiger. She came close to him, invading the panda's personal space.

Po swallowed hard, "W-W-Who are you? And what are you doing?"

The tiger smirked, getting close to his face. "I... am...leaving." She darted away.

"Wait what?! Come back here!" Po chased after her. The tiger jumped over rooftops and ducked through dark alleys, but the panda did his best to follow her. "Can't we... talk?"

"You sound like you need some exercise, cutie," The tiger laughed. "I hear running's good for the lungs."

"Yeah, but... Ha, I have panda asthma," Po gasped, turning the corner as the tiger jumped into another alleyway. The tiger stopped for a moment and smirked.

"Then maybe you should work on that." She ran down the corner. Po grinned.

"Hehe, I got her. This alley is a dead end." Po turned the corner, seeing the tiger waiting for him. "What?"

"You didn't think that you trapped me, did you?" she grinned.

"Then... why did you-"

"I was waiting for you to catch your breath," the tiger said, looking at her extended claws. Po readied his stance. "Oohh, the panda wants to fight. Great." Her smile was as wild as her eyes, glaring into the panda's frame. Po gulped.

She launched at him, hands first. Po blocked but slid several feet back. "Whoa! She's almost as strong as Tigress!"

"Heads up, plushie!" Po looked up and jumped out of the tiger's crushing stomp. The ground made a crater where she landed.

"Oh wow," Po yelped in a high-pitched voice. The tiger jumped off the walls and rammed her foot into Po's arm. She jumped off it, slapping Po in the face. "Ow!"

"Aww, I didn't hurt that handsome face of yours, did I?" Though mocking, Po couldn't help but see some genuine concern on her face. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Wait, you're the bad guy here! Grr, come back here!" Po grunted. The tiger laughed and ran towards the panda. They locked hands, but the tiger had no issue pushing Po straight back into the wall. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." His back hit the wall. Po whimpered as the tiger growled in his face with a wide smile.

"Hmm, I thought a warrior wasn't supposed to quit. Seems you give up easily."

"I... uhhh. Hiyah!" Po belly-bumped the tiger and punched her straight back. The tiger backflipped, clutching her stomach.

"Hmm, I forgot pandas could do that," The tiger mentioned nonchalantly. "Well, this has been fun. But I have to go now." She threw her fan at the panda, who ducked out of the way. But when he looked back, she was gone.

"What?" Po climbed onto the rooftops and found nothing. He went out into the open street. Nothing. "What the... that's... impossible! Where did she... go?" Po grunted as he held his arms in pain. "Argh, wow. She punches harder than Tigress." He looked at his arm in fear. "That's not good. That's really not good." He shook. The thought of someone being stronger than Tigress made his hands shake. Or maybe that was the aching in his bones.

"Ugh, what am I going to do?" Po walked up the street and across to the right side. He placed his back against a house wall and slid to the ground. Someone being stronger than Tigress usually meant he had to bear the burden of being stronger/smarter/faster than that person.

Alone.

Finally, he saw Tigress coming. "Tigress, there you are. Argh."

"Po!" She ran over to him, looking at his body. "What's wrong?"

Po panted, hunching over. "Oof."

"Why are you out of breath?" Tigress asked.

"I... I ran into the feline. She's a tiger."

Tigress's eyes widened. "And?"

"And... she's... a lot to deal with. Ugh, she's really strong... ugh. I think I need to sit back down."

"What's her name?"

"I... I don't know."

"She didn't tell you?"

"It was...difficult."

"Come on, let's get you up the mountain," Tigress said.

Continued...